Macross: The Rise of Babylon
by Jeap
Summary: The beleaguered Earth Alliance is in a desperate battle for survival against the unyeilding forces of the Minbari Federation. Just as hope ebbs, salvation appears...
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: Macross and related articles are the property of Big West. Babylon 5 and related articles are the property of Time Warner Entertainment. Niether studio is responsible for the contents of this story.

Prologue: Into the Rabbit Hole...

14:28 Zulu, December 19, 2043

Galaxy Patrol 7th Fleet, UNS Essex

Outer Core, System F-273496NHRR "The Dutchman's Treasure Chest"

"Three more defolds! Fifty thousand to port!"

...o...o...o...

The system was not particularly important. The habitable planets had been destroyed during a Zentradi campaign against the Supervision Army remnants four hundred thousand years ago. Two were slowly expanding debris rings and the other had had its atmosphere boiled off.

...o...o...o...

"The Jackson has taken heavy damage! She's pulling back to the Tri Star!" the com officer shouted.

"Get Hailey on the com. We need to bug out now," growled Admiral Jack A. Miller as he turned back to the holographic tactical display that dominated the center of the Command and Direction Center.

...o...o...o...

It was valuable though. There were hundreds of thousands of dead ships littering the system. Not many were repairable, but all the refined material would be an enormous boon to the UN. Those that were salvageable they were not likely to get. Anti-UN terrorists along with several Zentradi units had also found the system and had been readying to conduct their own salvage operations.

...o...o...o...

A small window appeared in the display. It showed the sweaty face of Commander Hailey. The image fizzled as the Essex rocked from a near hit.

"Fz-hat is i-zsh-ir?" Hailey asked as his image cleared.

"We can't hold this position much longer. Do you have the ship secured yet?" Jack flicked his eyes back to the tactical display. They were outnumbered and every one of his ships was under heavy fire from the enemy's lighter elements.

"The last grapples szhiss-eing secured we zsh jump in ten minutes, sir."

...o...o...o...

Both fleets were fighting for the ship that the massive Tri Star factory ship cradled. It was a Protoculture gunship like the Macross. A barrage of shots in that long ago battle had blown out the command block and overloaded the engines. Being on the edge of a flanking maneuver she drifted from the battle, forgotten, and into a long orbit around the system's sole gas giant.

...o...o...o...

"You have five," Jack scowled and killed the com window. He looked around the CDC for the shock of pink hair that was his captain and saw her looking over the sensor officer's shoulder. "Maya," he called above the din, "ready for fold in five minutes."

Maya nodded and grabbed the spare com set above the sensor station, "Aye sir." She flicked a few switches and a klaxon sounded twice. "Secure from combat and rig for fold. Eta five minutes. Suspend any further launches and clear the flight decks for hot landings."

Jack ignored her and turned to the com station. "Mister Paige, fleet wide: All units ready for fold in five minutes. Proceed to next waypoint."

"Aye sir," Lieutenant Mary Paige nodded and began to issue the General's orders.

Jack looked back at the tactical display watched as the enemy fighters began to press in as his disengaged and hightailed it back to their home ships. His brow furrowed as he stared at the enemy's heavy ships. They were hanging back seemingly content to lob long range missile salvos at his fleet when they should be advancing.

"What are you waiting for?"

...o...o...o...

There was a good reason that none of the ships or material had been recovered. This front saw the last large-scale deployment of Fold Weapons in an attempt to slow the advance of Zentradi forces. An entire Zentradi Main Battle Fleet had been destroyed in an adjacent system when the sun was forced to go supernova. Two other systems were moved from this reality and erased by the twisting hyperdimensional energies of the Fold Weapons. This system nearly suffered the same fate. As it stands, it teetered on the edge of unreality before finally beginning to stabilize ten thousand years ago.

...o...o...o...

"Fold engines ready, sir! Fold will commence on schedule. "

"All ships report fighters and surviving escape pods have been recovered!"

"Fold in ten, nine-"

"Multiple defolds forty three thousand ahead! Four, no ten, nineteen- Whoa something's wrong, everything just-"

"-two, one, fold engaged!"

And then everything rotated two hundred and seventy degrees without moving at all.

...o...o...o...

While the space that F-273496NHRR occupied was stable enough to allow some travel in and out of the system, it was not enough for the multiple fold operations that this skirmish brought. The final fold sequence with the UN fleet leaving the system and the terrorist entering it caused the UN fleet to disappear. By all right the UN fleet should have just ceased to exist, but as things are, humanity is a favorite toy of the gods, a neat experiment. And they just got to be a new variable in another reality. The arriving terrorist weren't so lucky. It caused a sort of... twisting to how the exist in reality. Skewed their dimensions. Time as height. Width as time. Nasty stuff like that.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: ...Out the Other Side

Unknown.

UNS Essex.

Unknown Location.

Captain Maya Konorond staggered and nearly fell as her ship did... something. She thanked her half Zentradi constitution as she forced herself to stand. The red glow of the emergency lights and blaring noise of damage klaxons filled the CDC. Several displays were flickering and a few were cracked; that didn't last long as the smart cables reestablished their connections and even the broken ones managed a picture.

Her crew seemed mostly fine. Auto restraints had snapped out and saved the ones sitting from injuries. Those that had been standing were a little worse for wear and she saw a couple of winces as they stood and a few oddly angle wrists and maybe a bone or two. General Miller was still standing and apparently unfazed, but then nothing seemed to be able to shake him.

"What just happened? And turn that off!" she half shouted over klaxon.

The alarm cut out and the sensor tech, Lieutenant Terry Wu, shrugged helplessly as he fiddled with his controls. "I don't know, sir. Space sorta... twitched when we mis-folded. Made everything fritzy; half the board's out and I've got ghosts all over the other half. I could probably tell you more if we were on an Einstein but-" he cut off as the ship shook from a light hit.

"Evasive now! Full ECM!" Maya screamed and scrambled to the tactical display. "Where did that come from?"

"I don't know, sir. Sensors are still twitchy! Maybe three four ships to port fifteen thousand," Terry said as he scrambled to get something more concrete.

"Pri-Fly says it came from port. Clipped us starboard, just the edge of the deck." Jack said with a slight frown and turned to Lieutenant Paige. "Where's the rest of the fleet?"

"We're spread over a hundred light-years from what the time codes are saying," she said. "Several ships haven't reconnected to FleetNet yet. But, the Kandahar is the closest and that's still at least half an hour out. Sir, There's heavy jamming on short range communications."

"This was planned then," Jack murmured and looked at Maya and offered her a bit of a smile. "Looks like it's your show now."

"Right," she nodded decisively and looked at the tactical display, "do we have fighters out yet?"

"They're on the elevators now, sir. Two squadrons are ready now and three more will be in the next ten minutes. That's... That's all we've got. The rest are too damaged or were destroyed," the Tactical Action Officer, Callie Harris, said worriedly. The Essex usually carried three hundred fighters into combat.

"It'll have to do. After they're launched get the techs to drag an AWACs pack topside and mount it so we have something to see with. What about the ASM launchers, Cameron?" Maya asked as she glanced at the fire control station and Lieutenant Commander Cameron June but he shrugged and shook his head.

"We emptied de magazines with dat last barrage 'fore we folded. My guys are reloading 'em but its goin' take at least another ten mints to prep de missiles."

"Don't worry," Jack said. Maya looked at him and saw him nod at the tactical display and the window he was looking at. It was a view from the island, zoomed in on the Essex's upper flight deck, and she could the Thunderbolts getting locked down for launch. "We've got some of the best pilots in the UN, I've made sure of that. We'll get out of this just fine."

...o...o...o...

Unknown.

UNS Essex.

Unknown Location.

Commander Cory Roberts ran around his fighter doing the quickest preflight he had ever done. The engines were clear and hot having flown not ten minutes ago and the grapes had refilled his tanks. A fresh FAST pack, new shield, and weapons had just been mounted; four RMS-5Cs and six AIM-18AIs were tucked under the wings he noted in a part of his mind. There were at least a dozen holes in the wings and the left canard and bits of the fuselage had been chewed off by a burst from a Renegade. Nothing critical, but he wouldn't be doing any atmospheric missions for a while.

He skidded to a stop under the cockpit and with a quick jump caught a handhold and clambered up. As he slid into the seat, the plane was already moving toward the elevator that would take him up to one of the flight decks. Quickly he secured himself, pulling his harness tight and plugging in his life support. After that was done his fingers began a quick dance across the controls and ended on the engine start and with that the powerful thrum of the fusion engines coursed through the fighter as it ascended to the upper deck.

"Call in Diamonds," He said as he checked his instruments. Mostly Greens and a few yellow stress indicators left side behind the cockpit.

"Everyone's good to go, Commander," the 2IC, Hans Fritz, said in his clipped German tones.

"Ya. What took ya' boss? We've been waitin' forever for ya," his wingman, Will Ruther, drawled.

"Wise ass," Cory smirked and switched over to the squadron's command channel. "Whatcha got for me beautiful?" he asked as the elevator stopped and the Thunderbolt rolled out onto the deck. Out of the corner of his eye he saw two greens slip under his plane and the yellow suited CAGO signal him to the number five catapult.

His right MFD winked out and was replaced with the harried face Lieutenant Commander Harris. "Not much, sir. Possibly four ships, maybe more. Shipboard sensors are screwy from what happened with the fold, but the General thinks this was setup. Be careful, you're going solo for a while, Sunliner is going to do CAP, so shoot first and hit hard."

"Solo, huh? I like it," Cory said as he gave the CAGO a thumbs up, grabbed his armrests, and ran a critical eye over his instruments one more time. The yellow spacesuited figure nodded and held stop for a moment before giving thumbs up back.

"Good luck, sir." She offered him a bit of a smile before disappearing just as the CAGO dropped to one knee and pointed down the catapult. It was just an instant before the Thunderbolt leapt forward and Cory was slammed back into his seat, the EM catapult shooting the fighter forward like a bullet.

He was fifty meters off the deck before he grabbed his controls and began to pull left. "Form up Diamondbacks, loose and easy. Intel's spotty: four caps, least, and we're solo so hit 'em where it hurts."

...o...o...o...

14:38 Zulu, December 19, 2246.

Evacuation Convoy, EAS Dauntless.

Altair System.

The three remaining evacuation ships made their best speed to the jump gate, but it wasn't enough, the Minbari Sharlin was still bearing down on them.

'And there's not a damn thing I can do,' Captain Amelia Jackson sighed. She shook her head and looked away from the view port. It was all so damn depressing, this impending doom stuff. She sighed again and with a bit of a push she floated over to the sensor station across the bridge.

"Anything on that new ship?" she asked quietly.

The young lieutenant, Greg Crayson she remembered, shook his head. "Nothing after that potshot that missed us. It drilled them straight on and they started putting out Minbari levels of ECM. I can't track them at all." He hesitated a bit before continuing, "Do you think that they... um..."

"That they might help us? Maybe. We can hope, but that doesn't seem to be the way the universe works." She watched him droop a bit before continuing. "But hey, they might. The Minbari fired first this time."

He chuckled a bit, "Hehe heh, yeah. Hmm," he looked more closely at his console and blinked. "Captain, I think I see some fighters coming from that ship," he said excitedly.

"Really? Alright!" She looked over to the com station, "Can we get a message out to them?"

The com tech shrugged but didn't look up, "Maybe, just short range though. We can't punch through this jamming much further than that." Now he looked at her, skeptically, "But will it do any good? They won't speak English."

She quirked and eyebrow and smirked. "I'm feeling lucky. Send this out: This is the EAS Dauntless. We need assistance, please. The Minbari have already destroyed most of this convoy. Loop that."

...o...o...o...

Unknown.

Diamondback One.

Unknown Location (Altair System).

Cory frowned as his computer kicked up a message for him. "Thi- fzSH the shz Dauntless. We need assistanc- Fszz -ease. The zshShSh -i have shszsh destroyed most of this convoy. This is fazZZz Dauntless. We need-"

Somewhat puzzled, he flicked his com to the squadron's frequency, "Anyone else pick that up?"

"Ya boss. Looks like we gotta' save some people."

"I agree, sir. My gun cams are showing that any forward fire is coming from the rear ship. It seems to be a very different design than the three lead ones."

"Yeah, it looks Zentradi and the others look like some sort of civilian cargo ships," Cory said. He thought carefully for a moment. "This could still be a trap for the Ess. But none of the other shots have come close to her. So, we go in cautious. Break by pairs and don't get hit."

The other pilots acknowledged and Cory flicked back to the channel that the message came over. "Roger that Dauntless. We will intercept."

"Thank you," it was the same woman and relief seemed to pour off the comment.

'I hope I'm not wrong about this,' Cory thought and tried to jamb the throttle farther forward. The Thunderbolts were quickly closing on the bogies when the Zentradi bandit let loose a massive barrage aimed at the third ship. There were no explosions; it just fell apart, the pieces trailing molten globules of hull, wisps of gasses, and flailing bodies. Lots of bodies.

"Ah shit." Cory whispered. "Cut your limiters! Burn out your engines if you have to! We gotta' save these people!" he shouted. Not waiting for a response he slid open the small panel under the throttle armrest and pressed the button it hid.

"Warning, Warning, Reactor Limiters Have Been Removed," the computer said harshly.

"I know," Cory said and pushed the throttle even farther forward. He felt the engines's scream as dangerous amounts of fuel poured into the reaction chambers and the fighter streaked forward on twin trails of plasma. They quickly passed the two civilian ships and finally got a clear shot at the Zentradi ship. It had launched two squadrons of odd three fin fighters that were heading for the Diamondbacks.

"Boss, I ain't getting anything 'cept laser ranging on those bandits," Will said worriedly.

Cory rolled around a beam. "Blow through! The cruiser is the primary target!"

He juked and slipped left just barely dodging the fire from one of the bandits. Going into a long sliding roll that took him past the bandit, giving him a straight shot at the odd Zentradi ship.

"Diamond One, two Magnum," he said and let his RMSs fly.

"Diamond Two, two Magnum," Will said a moment later.

The rest of the squadron got their missiles off as well and they all went straight for the ship. Ignoring the lack of sensor returns, the AI guided missiles homed using just visual data. They slammed into the ship, detonating and throwing it sideways and snapping several of the fins off.

Cory didn't see that, the tri-fin bandits had turned and caught up with his squadron and seemed to be mad about what had just happened to their ship. They swarmed the Diamondbacks and it quickly turned into a massive dogfight.

He rolled into a sharp dive, a tri-fin right behind him. Fire from its cannons just missed his canopy and he juked left evading the second burst. His plane shuddered as the third clipped the right wing. A quick burst from his pulse laser forced it to miss the next shot as it dodged.

Pulling up he switched to gerwalk and went feet first, trying to get above the bandit and shed as much speed as he could. The tri-fin shot under him and he let loose a burst from his gun pod. The shells raked the fighter and shook it but it seemed to not be damaged. It went into a sharp turn and he went fighter trying to follow letting another gun burst rake the fighter and fired four micro missiles. The shells tore into the tail and it was slowing as the micro-missiles struck the fighter and finally destroyed it.

"I can't shake him!" Will said flashing past. He was dodging and juking all over but the bandit on him wasn't giving up.

"Gotcha, Willy," Cory jerked left and rolled down steeply, neutron fire flashing through where he had just been. Another snap roll gave him a clear shot and he let a Super Sidewinder go at the bandit behind Will. The AI missile shot true and slammed into the tri-fin destroying it in a fireball.

And then it was over; the three remaining tri-fins broke back for the cruiser which had managed to turn around. It opened some sort of vortex that the fighters and it vanished into it.

"Huh. Don't see that very often," Will said somewhat stunned.

"Nooo... Any idea what it was?" Cory asked as he turned and lined up on an escape pod.

They had gotten off pretty lightly in the short fight. Despite being out numbered they had lost only two fighters. They had all taken hits, come critical, but they gave a good accounting of themselves.

Cory glided up to the escape pod, shifted to gerwalk, and gently grabbed it.

"You okay, Janna?" he asked softly.

"Little shaken, sir. Nothing's damaged except my fighter and my pride," she said with a laugh.

"Good," he said and shifted the engines back and headed for the two civilian ships.

"Essex, the hostile ship has been chased off. We're bringing two friendlies in," he said tiredly, the hours of fighting, here and in the last system, finally catching up with him.

"Roger, Diamondback One," Callie said. "We were the only ship under attack, Cory, you made the right call. The General complimented you even," she said conspiratorially. "The rest of the fleet is on route here now. We're mounting rescue operations for that one ship now."

"Good, talk to you later," he said and switched back to the channel that the Dauntless had been using. "Dauntless, we will escort you to the Essex now."

"The Essex? Oh, um... Thank you," the woman said sounding somewhat shocked.

"Just doing our job ma'am," he said.

Cory pulled in close to the second ship, close enough to look into a view port. There was a young woman standing with a little girl. He waved at the girl and saw her eyes widen, then little girl waived back excitedly with a huge smile. The woman knelt down and hugged the little girl tightly and he could see the sparkle of teardrops in he eyes. But she was smiling.


	3. Chapter 2

...Into the Future?

15:47 Zulu, December 19, 2246.

EAS Dauntless.

Altair System.

It was a carrier. It had a flight deck, catapults, and an island. 424 was written across the bow and on the island. It was a kilometer and a half long and was sitting thirteen hundred meters from her little Olympus corvette.

Amelia was fairly certain that it was real as well, but that was only because her crew was seeing the same thing as she was.

There were actually four ships in the system now. A smaller carrier, one that looked like it would be at home on any ocean, had appeared in the system about thirty minutes ago followed shortly by two sharp nosed patrol craft. They did not use a jump engine to do this.

She turned from the small window in her cabin and rubbed her face tiredly. 'This kind of stuff is WAY above my pay grade.'

Her com chirped and she grabbed it off her belt. "Yes?"

"The Essex's shuttle is getting ready to dock, sir."

"Alright, I'll be there in a minute. Did they say if their airlock will mate to ours?" she asked as she grabbed her uniform jacket and sipped it on.

"They say it will."

"Hmph, that'll have to do I guess." she said as she pushed off into the corridor.

It only took her a minute to reach the docking airlock. There were already several techs and a few Marines watching the shuttle slip up to the corvette's airlock when she got there.

"One meter, sixty centimeters, thirty, ten, and-" Thump "-Contact. ...They've latched on. Pressurizing... Confirming seal... Seal is good. Cycling lock."

Amelia tugged the hem of her jacked nervously. She really needed to make a good impression, these people could be Earth's salvation.

The airlock opened excruciatingly slowly. She wasn't sure what she was expecting and it certainly wasn't what she got. Someone like the Markab? The Vree? A giant space mantis? Maybe. But he looked human. In fact he looked like he had stepped out of some sort of Earthforce recruiting poster. Six foot tall, blonde, a devil may care smile, and he had that lean strong build that close combat specialist have.

"Captain Jackson?" her eyes widened, it was English! With a bit of a Yorkshire lit English. "I'm Lieutenant Commander Trace Hasting, ma'am. I'll be taking you over to the Essex. If your ready to go now?" he asked.

"Oh... Um, th-thank you, Commander. Yes, take me. Er, t-to the sh-ship that is," she stuttered and blushed.

Trace smiled slightly and stepped out of the lock. "All right then. You bringing anyone else with you?"

"Two others," she said and stepped across the lock. "Whoa!" And nearly fell on her face as gravity grabbed her.

Trace caught her shoulders and steadied her. "Careful, there. Gravity fields must be misaligned a bit. You okay?"

"Yes I'm fine," She said her face fiery. One of the Marines snickered quietly and she shot him a scathing look.

"Well come on," Trace said stepping back. "We need to get going if you want to keep your appointment."

Amelia walked stiffly into the cabin and took a seat. She watched her Marine escort, but neither of them had a problem getting into the shuttle. After they were both on board Trace closed the airlock and went to the cockpit.

Amelia looked around the shuttle curiously. It's design looked... human.

"Lieutenant, what species are you?" she asked.

Trace poked his head out of the cockpit and gave her am odd look. "You're not prejudice are you, Captain?" he said and then snorted. "I'm Human, least that's what the docs tell me." He turned back to the controls.

Amelia's brain stopped as she tried to process that. It wasn't having much luck trying to work that one out. They were to advanced. They had artificial gravity. They beat back a Minbari ship!

Trace spoke softly with the copilot and went about undocking, asking for clearance to launch, and then the shuttle and dropped away from the corvette and headed for the Essex. The cabin was quite for a few minutes before he spoke to her again.

"You dropped a big one on us, Captain," he said from the cockpit. "Telling us this was the Altair system. Explained why we couldn't figure out where we were, though. Our starmaps weren't matching anything because they were two hundred years off!" he said chuckling.

That did not help Amelia, not at all. Two hundred years! People from the future! She looked at the Marines for help, but they looked as stunned as she felt.

"Two hundred?" she asked weakly.

"Yeah, the mis-fold took us forward two hundred years."

"Forward?" she squeaked. "What do you mean forward!"

...o...o...o...

15:58 Zulu, December 19, 2246.

UNS Essex.

Altair System.

Jack sighed, setting the data pad down on his desk he turned to the windows that were the back wall of his office. The after battle reports had come in. Two ships had been lost in the mis-fold; the Jackson, a North Hampton frigate, and the Loki, an Haruna cruiser, had been too damaged to make the transition. Three quarters of the Essex's fighter compliment was scrap and it was looking like the numbers would be similar for the rest of the fleet. They would have to be replaced.

He stood abruptly and began to pace.

'Two hundred years! The damn mis-fold has carried us half way across the galaxy and two hundred years into the future!' he thought furiously.

'The first part isn't so bad, we are much closer to Earth and the First Colonies. But Earth is not answering any communications. It was almost like Earth isn't there. Which was possible, it has been two hundred years and there were several thousand Zentradi ships unaccounted for. They could have rallied and come-' The intercom chirped loudly, drawing him out of his downwardly spiraling thoughts.

"Yes?" he asked gruffly, activating the intercom.

"It's the Captain to see you, sir," his steward said.

"Send her in," he said, sitting back down at his desk.

He nodded at Maya as she entered the office and waived her to one of the chairs in front of his desk. "Please, sit Captain. How is the rescue operation progressing?"

She sank gratefully into the chair with a sigh. "Ohhh, that's nice. We've managed to get five hundred people out of sealed compartments, sir. They're being settled into a few empty storage rooms we've converted to barracks and are being treated for shock and such."

"Five hundred out of how many? Damn," Jack sighed and leaned back. "What the hell is going on here? This happened less then twenty light years from Earth. Even in our time we would have a fleet here by now, probably more."

"I don't know, sir. The ship was odd from what the SAR teams said. And so are the other two from what the sensors are telling us. We should be getting some answers soon, though; the shuttle that was sent over to the Dauntless returned a few minutes ago and their captain should be getting here any time now." Maya frowned, "There seems to be another complication but the pilot didn't say what."

"Another one? This day just gets better and better," he said sourly.

Maya sank deeper into the chair and sighed. "Yeah it does doesn't it? I had to tell the crew that we're out of time. Most of us are used to the idea of long patrols, but this is a bit extreme." She smiled a bit, "I wonder if we'll get back pay?"

"Pfff, right. Those stingy bastards in Macross City?" Jack snorted.

The intercom chirped again. "Sir, Captain Jackson and Lieutenant Commander Hasting are here," the steward said.

"Hasting? Trace! What's he doing here?" he asked startled, then he shot Maya a look. "Tell me he's not the pilot."

"He was, the regulars are still on rescue and recovery duty. Why, is that a problem?" Maya asked, frowning a bit.

Jack shook his head and laughed. "Ha, no, its just Trace and his team are some of the best black ops in fleet. He thinks fighting through a company of macronized Zentradi with an M-21 and a spare clip is a 'slight inconvenience.'" He turned on the intercom, "Send them in."

Trace entered the office followed by a shorter mousy haired woman in a dark blue uniform.

"Sir," Trace began without preamble, "We've got a bit of a problem. From what Captain Jackson has told me, this is not our dimension. There are-"

"You're sure of that Commander? That we're not in our dimension?" Maya asked sharply.

Trace nodded, "Yes sir. Captain Jackson told me some of this Earth's history and it does not match our own after nineteen ninety."

Maya smiled widely and looked at Jack, "Admiral, we might be able to get home if we've jumped dimensions. Current theory holds that there could be temporal deviances in multiversal systems. We may not have jumped in time just the dimensions."

"You're sure that we could get home?" Jack asked, looking intrigued.

Maya nodded, "It's a chance and would take some tinkering, but probably."

"Sir," Trace interrupted, "we can't go home. Not yet. There is something we need to do here before we even think about that. Captain Jackson, if you would?"

"Ah, right," Amelia said nervously. "Um, the ship that you fought earlier was Minbari and we're in a very bad war with them." She paused and took a deep breath, "They're trying to wipe out humanity and there is not a lot we have been able do to stop them, sir."

The office was quite as the two older officers absorbed this. Maya tapped her fingers against the chair's arm lightly. This was not home, but this was what she took her oath to prevent. She glanced at Jack, but his face didn't show anything. His eyes... his eyes showed what he had seen. He had been stationed on Ataria in a counter terrorist unit in oh-eight. His team was on the Macross the day it launched and he had managed to survive Armageddon, but had to watch as Earth burned.

"I see," Jack said, his voice thick "Well, it looks like we have a job to do before we go home. Captain Jackson, please inform your government that we will do everything in our power to insure Humanity's safety."

...o...o...o...

18:38 Zulu, December 19, 2246.

Galaxy Patrol 7th Fleet, UNS Essex.

Altair System.

Maya looked out the bridge and watched as the last ships pulled into formation. They were headed for Earth. They were the last hope of Earth.

It was a bleak picture from what information Captain Jackson had. Minbari forces had been growing almost exponentially since the first weeks of the war. It was almost like they had stockpiles of ships just waiting for a fight. And Earth was lucky enough to be their target.

'Well, we always were fighters,' she thought. "We'll just have to show them what happens when you give us a real reason to fight."

"Sir? Did you say something?" Paige asked quietly.

Maya shook her head, "No, I was just thinking aloud."

"Oh," Paige nodded. "The techs aboard the Dauntless and the Heron report that the fold engines have charged sufficiently, sir. We can fold any time now."

"I'll tell the Admiral." Maya said.

It would be a long bloody fight with an enemy that gave no quarter. Fanatics bent on Earth's destruction. The things you see in the Navy!

...o...o...o...

18:44 Zulu, December 19, 2246.

Striking Blade.

Jumpspace.

"We have completed repairs to the communications array, Alyt," the technician said bowing his head.

"Good. How do the rest of the repairs progress?" Alyt Tahden asked, still staring at the maelstrom of hyperspace.

"The armor absorbed much of the blast's energy, but most of the systems on the port side are damaged. Any that were exposed to space during the strike are heavily damaged or were destroyed." He paused, "It is odd, Alyt, there is no radiation or anti-mater residue. I do not know what kind of weapons were fired at us."

"The Grey Council must know of this. An unknown race helping the Earthers." Tahden sighed, "This is most troubling."


	4. Chapter 3

Homecoming

20:19 Zulu, December 19, 2246.

UNS Essex.

In Transit to Earth.

"Kick number two's output up a bit! Its four percent low, Chief!" Commander Cory Roberts shouted from the cockpit of his fighter. Repairs were being rushed in light of their new situation and the bunk time Cory longed for was being made secondary. So the last four hours had been a mad rush of pulling parts and fixing critical damage.

"Can't, sir!" Chief Mendez yelled. "She's pegged! We'll have to throttle the other one down!" He tweaked a few things and then yelled back, "Ahight, you can cut it!"

The turbines' low whine died away slowly and Cory jumped out of the cockpit and landed in a crouch. He flopped down and leaned back tiredly.

"Well, damn. These engines just suck. You sure you can't fix the old ones?"

The burly chief shook his head and snorted. "Nope, you burned your reactors down ta two mil and pretty much melted the rest a the engine." He rubbed his hands on a rag and gave Cory a long look. "Almost left the limiters off too long. Another minute and you'd have burned out, sir."

Cory waived him off, "Yeah I know. Just needed the extra speed. Had to try to save those people and those Minbari fighters were fast little suckers."

Mendez nodded slightly and looked back to the plane. "Don't worry about the new engines. They're just fresh and they just need a bit a time to get broke in." He grinned, "I haven't had a chance to tweak 'em yet either, so there's some more power in there, sir."

A loud klaxon blared twice, cutting through the din of the hanger. "All hands ready for de-fold," the Captain said over the ship's speakers.

"Well, come on Commander," Mendez said, shoving his rag back into his jumpsuit's pocket. "We still need to patch the right wing's fuel tanks and get the armor patches applied."

...o...o...o...

20:21 Zulu, December 19, 2246.

UNS Essex.

In Transit to Earth.

Jack Miller stood at the bridge's forward window and looked out across the pulsing expanse of hyperspace. He was letting his thoughts drift to home, a home before the Rain of Fire that had left Earth scarred and nearly dead.

"You really think we'll be able to help these people?" Maya asked as she quietly slipped up next to him.

"Maybe," Jack said as he watched a ripple move across the carrier. "It'll depend on how long we can stall the Minbari and how quickly the Alliance can shift its industry. The more time we buy them the better their chances."

"Time bought with our blood," Maya sighed.

"I won't let Earth fall," he said vehemently. "I can't stand by and let it be burned, not again. Not when I can stop it." His tone that left no room for argument.

They stood quietly for a bit before she continued. "You saw the reports on the debris we recovered from the Minbari ship?"

"Umph, it's a bit worrying. Their armor soaks up energy like a sponge. We'll have to reprogram the RMSs to penetrate before detonating. The ASMs should be fine, their output is high enough to blow through the armor."

He turned from the window and stretched his arms. "Did you notice any thing about that ship?" he asked. She pursed her lips and after a moment shook her head. "They only use a gravity drive, that's what the fins were for and why it stopped when they broke off. Same for the fighters."

"You really think so? That's sorta silly, those are too fragile for use on combat craft. I mean sure, they're really efficient, but the projectors have to be huge... like those fins." She stopped and thought on that for a bit. "That's just bad design. Why would they be putting efficiency over combat effectiveness?"

Jack clicked his tongue, "Eh, they've been around for a while, from what Captain Harris said. And they seem to have been top dog for a good part of that time. But, I'm betting that they haven't had to fight an enemy on an equal footing for a looong time."

He looked at Maya and gave her a feral smile. "We're going to be a big shock to them."

...o...o...o...

20:24 Zulu, December 19, 2246.

TG 12.3, EAS Sutsanto.

Sol System, Far Earth Orbit.

"Sir, we're in position," the helmsman said as the Hyperion and its escorts finished breaking maneuvers.

Captain Jack Maynard nodded and glanced at his watch. "Good, just in time. Com, get me General Lefcourt."

"Yes sir," the tech said. "Connection established. Its waiting on you monitor."

Maynard opened the link and it was just a few moments before General Robert Lefcourt appeared. He looked tired and the window behind him was lit by the night lights of Geneva.

"Evening, Jack. You in position?" Lefcourt asked gruffly.

"Yes sir, just finished breaking," Maynard said. "So, what are we doing out here?"

Lefcourt grabbed a few papers off his desk and scanned through them. "Lets see... About four hours ago the evacuation convoy for the Altair base on the Narn Frontier was ambushed by a Sharlin patrolling there. The convoy was rescued by an unknown ship. Its sketchy, but apparently the rescuers were Human."

Maynard whistled, "Someone beat a Sharlin in a slugging match? When are we getting what they're using?" He frowned as the whole statement clicked, "Wait, you said an unknown ship? With a Human crew?"

"Yeah," Lefcourt nodded, "not one of ours. Anyway, its going to take them a little under two hours to make the seventeen light-year jump to Earth."

"That can't be right," Maynard said and he scratched his chin. "It'd be impossible to navigate that deep in hyperspa-"

"Sir!" the sensor tech interrupted. "Forty-seven new contacts! Wait, no now its sixty-one, sixty-fo-, seventy-four contacts! Two are reading as ours!"

Maynard watched wide eyed as dozens of ships appeared in front of his small task force. Four monolithic carriers clustered around a mishmash of pipes and spindles formed the core of their fleet. Sleek kilometer long daggers cut into formation around them. The smaller ships breaking and maneuvering unlike any thing he had ever seen.

Lefcourt smiled thinly, "Maybe you can. Bring 'em in, Jack. We need whatever help we can get," he said and then cut the connection.

"Message from the arriving fleet," the com tech said. "Piping it to you now, sir."

An older graying man in an unfamiliar uniform appeared on his monitor. "I'm Admiral Miller," he said coolly. "If you would, form up an escort and we can get under way to Earth. Captain Harris has been very helpful, but I really need to talk to your command before I can mount any serious operations."

"Ah... Yes sir."

...o...o...o...

09:44 Local, December 20, 2246.

Sydney Spaceport, Sydney, Australia.

Sol System, Earth.

President Elisabeth Levy squinted up at the cloudless blue sky. It was just going to hit twenty-five today and it was looking like it would be a lovely summer day here. The new arrivals had insisted on a meeting on Earth and a winter night in Geneva was just too cold.

'Much better than Geneva,' she decided as she looked out across the spaceport's tarmac from the conference room's curved floor to ceiling window. 'Maybe I can set up a summer and a winter government seat? Might work, if I can get the some of the older senators on my side.'

She sighed and turned back to the conference table and her staff of advisors. They had taken a short break after several hours of discussion about these new allies. General Lefcourt and Franklin were quietly discussing something, probably the tactical implications of 'fold' drives and 'reaction' weapons. Commander Sheridan, the young officer Lefcourt had brought with him, was looking distinctly uncomfortable and trying not to wriggle. He was a good level-headed man from what she had heard. Her good friend Louis Santiago was sitting quietly, deep in his thoughts. Most of her other aides and hanger-ons were clustered in small groups conversing quietly. The news of these new arrivals had only just begun to be accepted with their arrival in Sol and had left many people stunned.

"So," she said, sitting back down. "What do we know?"

"Not a whole lot, militarily, Madam President," General Robert Lefcourt said after a moment. "They have seventy-two ships in seven distinct classes, most of which have some battle damage, and an unknown fighter compliment with those ships." He paused to take a sip of water and then leaned back. "A squadron of their fighters severely damaged a Sharlin cruiser and nearly wiped out two squadrons of Nials. Better than any thing we've been able to do to the Minbari in any skirmish."

General Richard Franklin nodded gravely, "Yes, their fighters do seem to be very good. We don't know what sort of line combatants they are, though. Their ships look impressive and seem to have a high performance envelope, but we haven't seen them in combat yet."

He shuffled through some papers and selected one. "What's really impressive is that it took them an hour and forty-six minutes to travel 16.8 lightyears. That's far in excess of anything we can do, even on the best mapped routes. And their engineers mounted drives on two of our ships in under four hours. If we can get that technology, we could at least stage an evacuation of Earth and be reasonably safe from any pursuit."

"You're not actually suggesting that we abandoned Earth, General?" a Senator, Clark she remembered after a moment, asked.

Franklin winced and shook his head. "Only as a last resort," he said in a placating tone. "The war has not gone well, we are in retreat on all fronts, and our victories are far and few between. I don't want to get my hopes up much."

"That's all right, General. Someone has to be the realist." Elisabeth said softly. "Louis, you've been awfully quite."

"Hmmm? Oh, sorry. Its just the thought that these are people from another dimension. It boggles the mind there could be others-"

"They're here," Commander John Sheridan interrupted quietly.

Elisabeth quickly turned her chair and just caught sight of the shuttle and it's escort flight of fighters as they swooped in on the tarmac. The shuttle was a boxy craft with tilt-engines on short wings fore and aft. It settled into VTOL, Virticle Take Off and Landing, and dropped down lightly near the terminal. The fighters were more impressive as they wheeled in along side the shuttle. When they went VTOL they sprouted arms and legs and carried a giant rifle. They hovered two on each side of the shuttle and as it landed the two fighters farthest from the terminal changed again into huge humanoid robots. They looked rather like a futuristic knights, what with a shield on one arm and that huge rifle they wielded with casual ease.

Sheridan broke the stunned silence after a moment with his succinct statement of: "Damn."

"Well, uh," Elisabeth said scratchily. "Let-ahem. Lets go meet our guests."

...o...o...o...

The shuttle's passengers had already disembarked by the time Elisabeth and her group got outside. Most were guards-

"Marines," Lefcourt murmured quietly, catching sight of the globe and anchor emblem they wore.

Marines in some sort of light armor and carrying menacing looking rifles. They stood at ease behind an older officer in a white uniform with a brief case. He had the same bearing and aura of competence that all good soldiers have. She was a bit surprised as they all snapped to attention when they saw her and she tentatively returned their salutes.

"I'm Admiral Jack Miller, Madam President," he said after studying her for a moment. "I'm here to offer you the full support of UN Spacy and the 7th Galaxy Patrol Fleet in any capacity possible."

"Thank you, Admiral," she said. "With your help we may be able to finally turn the tide of this war. Please, this way. We have a conference room ready."

"Of course, ma'am," he said and with his Marine escort followed her and her group back to the conference room. The short trip was made in silence and they filed into the room, leaving the Marines and Secret Service eyeing each other uncomfortably.

"If I may ask, Admiral," Louis began after they were all seated. "Why are you helping us? This isn't your war or, for that matter, your world."

"That... That requires a bit of history on my part," Jack said slowly. He opened his briefcase and pulled out a small holoprojector and set it on the table. It powered up and began to show a few scenes.

"In nineteen ninety-nine an alien ship crashed on my Earth and we found out we weren't alone in the universe. But... it was a warship. So, for the next ten years, we prepared the best we could, building new machines of war and a small fleet to defend Earth."

He leaned back slightly, "And then, on the day we were going to launch the Macross, the alien ship that had crashed; the Zentradi came. The Macross had belonged to an enemy of theirs and had been booby trapped before being abandoned." The projector flashed to a shaky image of the Macross firing. "Shot straight through a mountain and a couple tens of kilometers of ocean before blowing apart the ships the Zentradi had sent as a scout force."

"And that began the Space War. I was in the SEALs then, as was part of a counter terrorism unit stationed on Ataria, and sat most of the War out on the Macross." He paused for a moment. "It wasn't a war in the traditional sense. The Zentradi were just after the Macross, initially to destroy it, but after they saw that we had repaired the ship, they became intrigued by us. The Zentradi, then, were best described as bioroids. Imprinted with basic skills in a growth tank and in about a year they came out ready and fight in any capacity a soldier can... except as engineers. They weren't taught anything past cleaning their weapons and our ability to repair things intrigued them."

"Anyway, they came to Earth in force after they lost their ships and Macross made a fold in gravity, a very difficult maneuver under the best of conditions, to escape. We ended up by Pluto with the fold engine gone and we made our way back to Earth with the Zentradi following us. The Zentradi, as they were exposed to us, became culturally contaminated. Which lead to their main fleet commander ordering that the Earth and the contaminated Zentradi be destroyed."

"So on the eleventh of February, twenty ten, three million ships arrived over Earth and began bombardment. The Zentradi already in system had decided that there was something worth saving there and sided with us. With their help, the Macross lead a daring attack on the main command ship, managing to destroy the ship and kill the fleets commander."

The projector flashed to an image of Earth after the battle. Fires raged across the planet. Coast lines were reshaped, cratered beyond recognition. There was not a single city that escaped bombardment.

Jack sighed sadly and sank into his chair. "We won. But the Rain of Fire couldn't be stopped. Earth was burned and humanity nearly wiped out. Out of six billion people there were only a few million survivors and we weren't able to mount the rescue operations to save even a small portion of them."

He gave Elisabeth a piercing look and said softly, "That's why I can't stand by and let this war happen to humanity, even if its not my humanity."

"I see," she said softly. "But what can you really hope to do?" Seeing Earth, even if it wasn't her's, that ravaged had left her disheartened.

"I will buy you time. Time to shore up defenses, retool industries, and retrain personnel."

"How do you intend to do that?" Lefcourt asked as he leaned forward and put his elbows on the table.

"We'll open up another front on the Minbari. Attack them in the rear of their territories and force them to move ships and personnel to reinforce and defend previously safe areas; hopefully taking pressure off Earth."

He adjusted the projector and it switched to a star map showing a two hundred fifty light year sphere around Earth. Blue began to propagate outward from Earth highlighting colonies and tinting space. It shifted to purple and then to red as it crossed from disputed areas and into known Minbari colonies.

Jack pointed to an area behind the known Minbari colonies. "We need more information before that, though. I'll send scouts through this area. My North Hampton frigates are very fast, have excellent sensor suites, and a very stealthy profile. Once we find a suitable target; my commando units will stage a raid and infiltrate the Minbari information network and get as much data as they can."

He smile thinly, "Once we have some idea of their disposition of forces, then we'll start hammering them. Hard."


	5. Chapter 4

09:14 Zulu, December 24, 2246.

Galaxy Patrol TF 71, UNS Essex.

Sol System, Earth Orbit.

The Essex and her escorts cruised a lazy orbit around the milky blue gem that was Earth. Their appearance a few days ago had cause a fury in the media. Seventy ships coming in orbit would have been impossible to hide. So Earthdome hadn't, they just didn't say where they were from. They were shy allies who were helping against the Minbari and that was enough, for now.

'It's going to come back and bite us in the ass later, though,' Admiral Jack Miller thought, absently, as he listened to Commander William Hailey's report.

"We've finished the initial survey of the gunship, sir. Good news is I'm pretty sure that the omni-barrier is intact and undamaged," Hailey looked at the data pad he had. "But, the rest of the ship is heavily damaged, we'll have to replace the entire command block and the port side engine and thousands of tons of armor. That's not even counting the refit to current standards."

Jack frowned and nodded, "How long do you think it'll take to get it fit for service?"

"It's going to be about eight maybe ten months, sir," Hailey said. He shrugged apologetically, "That's the best I can do, sir."

"We'll make do. What about the omni-barriers?" Jack asked. "How soon can you get them into production?"

"Four months for production to start and probably two more for refits of our fleet, sir. I need to set up some special production lines for some of the parts." Hailey said. "My engineers are pretty certain that with a complete design they can finally fix the overload in our models. We've also started converting the fighter production lines to the VF-19 specs, as you ordered. We'll have them up to full production capacity in two months, sir."

"Good, we're going to need every advantage we can get," Jack said. "So, what's you opinion of these-"

"Sir," the steward interrupted over the intercom, "Captain Konorond is here to see you."

"Send her in," Jack said.

Maya stepped into the office and set some reports on the desk. "Latest survey reports, sir. Intel thinks we've got the Minbari locked down to maybe forty systems."

He grabbed the reports and started to thumb through them. "Please, sit down, Captain. What do you think about these Earthers, Commander?"

"Huh? Oh, um, well, they seem like us, I guess. I've only met a few of their engineers and they're okay. They were surprised that we were human and that we're giving them ready access to our tech." He paused, "I know we discussed it, but are you sure that's a good idea, sir?"

"We don't have the ships or men to fight this war for them, Commander," Maya said softly. "And until we can work out how multiversal travel works, we're stuck here without reinforcement."

"How are you coming with that, Maya?" Jack asked, still looking at the reports.

She snorted, "I have a Masters in Hyperspace Physics and the rest of the research group is about the same. And the stuff that we need to figure out seems like going from Newton's work to Plank's theories."

"So... Not good?" he asked.

"No, really not good, sir."

"Ah, I see. Hmm," he pulled out a report and looked at it closer, "I think we have our world."

...ooo...ooo...

08:10 Zulu, December 28, 2246.

UNS Bowman.

Tala System, Minbari Space.

The frigate ghosted through the Minbari system's Oort cloud, it's ECM rendering it all but invisible to the three ships that were attempting to track it. A day and a half earlier it had drawn the Sharlin and it's two Tinashi escorts out with a few bursts of Zentradi radio chatter and had been following them, carefully taking sensor readings of the vessels and their stealth fields. But now it was time to act and start UN Spacy's part in this war.

"Hold us at twenty-five thousand," Captain Mikhail Vadim said as he stared at the Minbari ships. "Have fighters ready to launch as soon as the missiles are out."

"Aye sir, helm hold at two five thousand kilometers," the watch officer said and then tapped his headset. "General Quarters. General Quarters. All hands to battle stations and Fighters to launch positions." He turned back to Mikhail, "Sir?"

Mikhail nodded fractionally, "Target the big one and the one on the left. Then we'll hit the other one."

The Earth Force liaison, Ganya Ivanova, glanced at Mikhail uneasily. "Um, are you sure that's a good idea, sir? We usually engage something like this with a squadron of heavies."

Mikhail sneered at him, "Don't tell me Russian courage has died in these last centuries!" He turned to the tactical officer, "ECM active and fire missiles!"

The frigate shuddered as the two huge missiles thundered out of the launch tubes, their powerful exhaust plumes buffeting the little ship. Counter fire came sporadically from the Minbari as their sensors were assaulted and they realized that they were under attack. But, the missiles shot trough, spiraling in onto the two ships and there was nothing they could to stop them as they hit and bloomed into explosive blossoms, pulverizing the two ships.

"YES!" Mikhail shouted and jumped up. "How is that, Ganya? Helm, evasive and swing us port! Target that last ship!"

The remaining Tinashi was pulling hard to the right, away from the burning hulks it had been with, and tossing out blasts as it tried to bring it's powerful forward weapons to bare on the threat behind it, but the little North Hampton was stubbornly staying in the Tinashi's rear arc. It's heavy lasers and light particle cannons lanced out and scored deeply into the larger frigate's thick hide.

"I- I don't believe it. Just like that, a Sharlin..." Ganya muttered.

Mikhail grinned, "There's not much UN Spacy can't hand-"

The ship rocked as fire raked it and Mikhail sat down heavily. Ganya grabbed the railing he was holding tighter, his knuckles white as he watched a view screen. A few Nials escaped the dogfight and angled in on the frigate. Their weapons flashed and tore at the hull, but it was a short lived assault and they died in missile and laser barrages.

"Sir! Some of their fighters have broken through our screen. CIWS are engaging."

"Good," Mikhail said. He leaned forward and squinted at his display, "Cycle power from the lasers to the cannons. We'll see if we can finish this sooner."

"Aye sir."

The North Hampton shook as the Tinashi got a broad side to it. Blasts of neutron fire slammed into the ship, but the barriers managed to catch most of it. Damage klaxon wailed and the lights flickered as power was shunted to the projector. Counter-fire drilled into the Tinashi's drive fins and it stopped it's turn, a few more shots cored through weaken armor and hit something reactive as the ship exploded violently from within.

Mikhail leaned back and smiled widely, "Za Rodinu, eh, comrades? Dispatch logs to Earth and get us to the rendezvous."

...ooo...ooo...

24:49 Local, December 28, 2246.

Outside a small communications installation, Northern Continent.

Tala System, Tala.

Tala was not an overly useful world to the Minbari, it seemed, as much of it was a hot tropical paradise. Only the small northern continent was cool enough for them to live on and any assignment to the planet was considered an exile in disgrace. But, sitting as it was, the world key to their communication network and had a extensive ground and space based networks. The centers based in the tropics were unmanned, but they were sealed tight and all attempts to breach them had failed.

A light snow fell over the pine forest, blanketing the trees in white. The night air was cold and sharp; Trace's breath fogged as he looked at the Minbari compound from a ridge a kilometer away. The small cluster of five crystalline buildings had been picked for their mission. They had a basic idea of the layout and where they needed to go; the recon drones had managed to get detailed enough scans for that, at least.. It also seemed to be lightly guarded, but they had no idea of what sort of surveillance the Minbari used. Or what kind of response breaking in would warrant.

'Fricken bad intel,' Trace thought, frowning, and tucked the binoculars he had been using back into his pack. He pulled his combat goggles on and looked at the buildings for a bit longer before sliding down the hill to where the rest of his team was waiting. He had pulled the five of them together from across the UN and they were some of the best in UN Special Forces.

"Right, gather 'round," he said as he pulled out a map and laid it out on the ground. "Jorgen, you'll set up here on that ridge behind me. Not out of range, I hope?"

The big Swede sniper patted the twenty millimeter rifle he carried. "Ja, not a problem, sir. You know I'm good for at least five kilometers." Gunny Jorgen Liefson was one of the best snipers in the UN. The big blonde brute handled a long rifle like it was an extension of himself and held a record for third longest range confirmed kill with a thirty-six kilometer shot from a landing assault ship.

"Just checking. Katty, you spot for him. Watch our backs, too."

The woman nodded, "Yeah boss." Kathy O'Malley was a wiry little redhead and a demolitions expert. She had an almost instinctive feel for where to place charges and was a demon in setting up ambushes. "You sure you don't want me with you?"

"We need the buildings intact, unfortunately," Trace said with a bit of a smile. He dusted some snow off the map and pointed at their position, "The rest of us go in. Plan's same as what we came up with on the boat: approach from the east, scout the facility, and place the bugs. Sara, your on point. Eketi, your rear. Be careful, I know you're tougher than us regular humans, but we don't know much about how the Minbari fight.

"Yessir," Sara said softly. Sara Kidondirk, a petite blue haired meltran, was a damn fine soldier and one of the best hand to hand fighters he had ever met.

Eketi Pappas just nodded and finished checking his rifle. The man was well over two and a third meters tall, his mix of Samoan and zentran genes had given him a frame that few could match, and he could literally lift a ton.

"Mike, you get us in and then we have to plant the bugs. Should be in the fifth building, from what the recon drones say."

"Not a problem, sir," Mike Huang said. The lean oriental was a bit of an oddity as a techie and a Special Forces, but he was a fine man to have your back and could turn systems against their operators.

Trace folded the map and stuffed it into it's pocket. "Right then, lets get going."

They made their way quickly through the forest. The only sounds were the soft crunches of their boots on the snow and the wind whistling in the pine needles. Trace signaled and they slowed as they neared the perimeter. He toggled his goggles and zoomed in on the buildings, carefully scanning over them.

"Sensors on building two and five," he said softly when he finished.

"I see 'em. Taking out the one on five will give us a clear run," Mike answered. He pulled out a small gun and aimed at the sensor on building five. It was a small, but powerful, directional EMP gun and after a moment a wisp of blue smoke came out of the surveillance device.

"We're clear," Eketi said softly and the team sprinted to the building. Sara was there first and she crouched down and held out her hands for Trace. He adjusted his stride, so he stepped onto her hands, and with a quiet grunt she tossed him up the two story building. He caught the roof's edge and quietly eased himself up. After a quick look, he waived the others up and with two quick tosses Eketi had Mike and Sara climbing onto the roof.

"Your getting heavy, sir," Sara said with a bit of a smile.

Trace took out a rope lowered it to Eketi. "Hmph, its hard to my girlish figure," he said. They braced it as the hulking man hauled himself up.

Mike had slunk over to the roof access and was carefully examining the door. He quickly bypassed the security around it and then popped the cover off the control panel. After looking at the alien hardware for a moment, he pulled a modified data pad off his harness and slid two leads into the circuits. He had to fiddled with the data pad and had to move the leads a bit before the door opened.

"We're in, sir," he called softly.

Sara hefted her rifle and took the lead into the stairway with Mike, Trace, and Eketi following closely. They went down four floors before Mike directed them out of the stair. They went moved down the short corridor and Sara stopped them at an intersection. Mike glanced at his data pad and tapped her on the right shoulder. She darted around the corner and she almost ran into a Minbari man. She reacted first and her fist lashed out, doubling him over right into her rising knee. He want down and they silently fell back and covered her as she pulled the unconscious man back to the stairs.

"Where do we need to go?" Trace asked softly.

"Right and centerish. Lots of EM there," Mike said with a glance at his data pad.

Sara finished stashing the Minbari and they again started advancing again. They didn't have any other problems and were soon at the room Mike had pinpointed. He probed the door, quickly unlocking it, and eased a fiber optic cable in to examine the room. Not finding anything he opened the door and the group entered the room.

Mike went over to one of the sever cases and whistled softly as he levered it open. "This is nice stuff. All optic and good quality."

"Can it," Trace said as he opened a sever and placed a bug. "We need to get going."

"Right, sir," Mile said placing a bug and then moving on.

They finished quickly and made their way back to the roof, without incident this time. Eketi was lowered down first and he caught the others as they jumped off the building. They disappeared into the woods, met up with the rest of the team, and made their way back to the stealthed shuttle they used and quietly lifted off.

The snow was still falling and their tracks disappeared long before dawn. It was like they were never there.

...ooo...ooo...

24:49 Local, December 28, 2246.

Medical Ward of Lhirup Communications Station 5, Tasda Continent.

Tala System, Tala.

"I was attacked!" the irate man yelled.

"You were going to check on that camera that died, you probably just slipped. We found you unconscious in the stairway, it probably happened there, Deteen," one of the others standing around the bed said. "You know those stairs are killer when they're wet."

"It was an attack! It was wearing a round helmet and had hair like those hum-mans! No crest!"

"A human this deep in our boarders? You slipped and knocked yourself out. Nothing else. Now get some rest."


End file.
